Shooting the Foot
by xXhumblambaXx
Summary: Percy is instructed to meet a mystery woman who could help decipher Rachel's new prophecy- and he bumps into someone who could help out. This is my first ever fanfic and a oneshot unless I feel like writing more.
1. Your Average Walk

The rain came down hard, beating on Percy's thin T-shirt like a drum. Walking swiftly, he splashed his way across the sidewalk, hands wrist-deep into his jeans pockets. He couldn't believe it— Annabeth just abandoned him at the library, running off to get some textbook she heard someone talk about. Percy really couldn't care less. It was only eight but his eyes were already drooping. The fact that he had been snoozing on the study table in the quiet section while Annabeth attempted to get him to work out some calculus problems didn't really help.

He took out a piece of paper Annabeth wrote on, the name of someone he was supposed to meet. Percy had never heard of the person's name before, but she reminded him of a strict mother, just the way her name sounded. Supposedly, this woman had been wanting to talk to him about "fishy business." Percy though that was a joke— fishy, son of Poseidon— but then again, fishy business was indeed going on in his life, especially with Rachel's new prophecy. Shaking his head to clear his mind and repel the water droplets, Percy stuffed the paper back into his pocket.

As if to jar him from his daze, a discordant shriek, definitely not human, echoed off the buildings from around the corner. Expecting a monster, he whipped out Riptide and uncapped it, its bronze coat gleaming in the moonlight. Annabeth probably would have yelled at him to be stealthier, but he ran the rest of the sidewalk, water splashing onto his jeans, and swerved around the corner to see a boy around his age plunge something sharp into a mutilated figure that stood twice as tall as him and half as wide The inhuman screech came again and then the figure— was that a face? — stole a look at Percy and doubled over, eventually vanishing.

The boy must have had keen hearing— or Percy was just stupid enough to plop through the water like a two year old in a puddle— because he twisted to face Percy, extending a dagger. The boy had long fair hair that almost covered his startling blue eyes, but Percy could tell they were fierce. He wore a black leather jacket, but the sleeve of his raised arm pulled back a little, revealing a pattern of curving black lines. Finally realizing that Percy was a normal boy, the blond dipped his dagger and stuck his chin up.

"What did you see?" the boy demanded.

"Enough. What kind… what kind of _monster_ was that?" Percy asked, taking a step closer to the boy, who immediately swung his dagger back up.

"You saw it," the boy eyed Percy suspiciously, "but you're obviously not a Shadowhunter."

"A Shadowhunter? I'm sorry, but that didn't look like much of a shadow to me," Percy said.

The boy scoffed. "Mundanes. But the last mundane who saw me kill…" he trailed off. As if gears turned in his head, the boy asked, "Who's your father?" and stared at Riptide.

Percy stumbled back. Was it possible? Could this guy know who Percy _really _was? Then again, Percy wasn't all that normal looking due to the three foot sword in his hand.

"I'm not a Shadowhunter, whatever that is. And I'm not a mundane— is that a type of monkey?"

The boy grinned, "Yep." Something told Percy that it _so_ was not. The lightness and the I-know-something-you-don't of his tone, the slyness of his grin, the relaxation of his shoulder, and the repeated dip of the dagger signaled that maybe this wasn't such a bad guy. "Jace," he held out his unoccupied hand.

"Percy," Percy capped Riptide and shook Jace's outstretched hand. Right then, a familiar voice drifted through the wind, calling his name. Annoyed and sure of who was splashing through the sidewalk to get him, Percy retrieved his hand and slowly turned around to see Leo with his every wide grin.

"Hey, Percy!" Leo caught up to him and skidded to a stop when he saw Jace. With an upturned eyebrow, he chuckled, "Who's he, Jason number two?"

"I don't know who Jason is, but I am certainly not _second_," Jace said.

Leo shook his head or brown curls and opened his big mouth as if he was going to say something back, but thought better of it and turned to Percy, "Guess who I found at the music store."

"Judas Priest?" Percy said the first band name that popped into his head. Funny how it wasn't One Direction what with Piper blasting them in Percy's year all day.

"Ooh, just the opposite, actually," Leo beamed. He stepped aside to reveal another boy, about the same age as the lot of boys already there, with Leo's curly brown hair but with pale skin and better taste for clothing. Leo tugged Percy aside, away from Jace, and whispered, "Dude he's a _vampire_!"

Leo's excitement may have been too loud or Jace actually _did_ have good hearing because at that word, Jace faced the coming boy and stared in disbelief. "By the Angel, Simon, you _told_ the Mundie?"

"He's not a Mundie, Jace." Simon retaliated.

"Wait, you know him?" Percy and Leo said at the same time.

"Unfortunately," Jace and Simon replied in unison.

"Okay woah," Leo held up his hand, disturbed by the sudden unity of voices. "First off, _creepy_. Second, you must be Jace, right? The half-blood?" Half-blood, Percy thought. Then why did Jace use the term _Shadowhunter_?

Jace stiffened, and then punched Simon. "Simon, it seems you have a bigger mouth than I thought."

"It's alright," Simon waved him off as if he barely felt the punch, which should have hurt. "He's not all human either."

"A demon?" Jace glowered at Leo.

"I'm no demon!" Leo said quickly. "I'm half-god." It was Percy's turn to slap Leo. "Hey!"

"God, huh?" Jace repeated incredulously and twirled the dagger in his hands.

"I swear on the Styx."

"Sticks?" Jace looked at Leo as if nothing could be more peculiar. "Not much to swear on."

"Quit blabbering," Simon sighed. "The point is that none of us are _entirely_ human."

Percy narrowed his eyes, "Now is that a good thing or a bad one?" His mind reeled back to Rachel's most recent prophesy. _Six unique bloods, with pain survive the floods, purposely shoot the foot, or die with marks of soot. _

"And Simon knows where the woman you needed to speak to lives," Leo added.

"You do?" Percy raised an eyebrow, looking at Simon.

"What woman?" Jace asked.

Simon flushed, as if he said something to Leo that he probably shouldn't have, "Well, you do too, Jace."

Percy fished out the piece of paper he was looking at just a few minutes ago, suddenly dampened by the fierce rain. The ink was smudging, but legible. He handed it to Jace, who received it and read it with creased eyebrows.

His jaw dropped. "_Maryse Lightwood?_"


	2. Sorry to Barge In

**Thank you all who reviewed, liked and followed my story! You don't know how excited I was with the feedback, even when there wasn't too much. I ****_am_**** easily-excited. I cried at the Sea of Monsters trailer. Anyway, yeah, here's the next chapter! I really hope you like it!**

"Definitely not," Isabelle chided, shook her head violently and leaned the frame of her closed window. All the chilly night air of October was too chilly for her in her sleeveless tank top and jeans.

"_What_ am I doing _wrong_?" Clary sighed in frustration and plopped onto Isabelle's bed. She yanked her fingers through her hair to unravel the fail of a French braid, causing Isabelle to yelp and snatch her hands before pulling out more knots and hair.

"Clary, don't get mad at your hair," Isabelle instructed. "It's your fault, really."

"Thank you," Clary stood up, "for the encouragement."

"Anytime," Isabelle smiled, hands on her hips. The poor girl couldn't do a simple French braid. Isabelle just saved her from a bald head at forty when she stopped her from pulling all her hair out. Honestly, Clary should_ know_ better. Just then, a knock at the door detached Isabelle from the wall when she opened it.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," Alec eyed Clary, who crossed her arms and glared at Isabelle. He turned back to Isabelle, two pairs of blue eyes meeting. "So… how is that armor lesson going?"

"Well enough," Isabelle lied. "What do you want?"

"Did you order the pizza?"

"I've got pasta on the stove."

"And you… left it there?"

"My cooking has never burnt the house down so don't get your socks in a twist."

Alec muttered, "It's not the house I'm worried about." Isabelle heard it, but said nothing because just then, she heard the sound of elevator doors opening. Even Alec turned to face the hallway and said, "Jace is home." At that, Clary removed her glare from Isabelle and pushed her way into the hallway. In seconds, she disappeared, as did Alec. Isabelle was about to too, but something held her back in her room. She noticed that her window was open, her curtains billowing into the room, brushing her bed sheets.

Her window wasn't open a minute ago.

She ran to shut it, but as she placed her hands on the sill, a blast of air shoved her back and she fell, landing on the edge of her bed. The wind grew fierce, whipping her hair across her face to the point of annoyance. The shirt that was on the mirror ripped free, leaving Isabelle gaping at the hole in her old shirt as it smacked the door as the door slammed shut. She tried to get on her feet, but another gust of wind had her all but hanging onto the bed post for dear life. _This wind_, Isabelle thought to herself when she wasn't swatting her hair away, _is definitely not Nature._

A pair of sneakered feet thumped onto the window sill and in crawled a boy. As he entered the room— without permission, she might add— Isabelle thought it was Jace. Same blond hair, tan skin, tall athletic build. Then she realized that it was an entirely different boy with shorter hair than Jace. He had the same sense of dignity as Jace about him, but seemed kinder and not about to snap. Just as his feet landed on the pink carpet, the intense wind died down immediately, like this boy was controlling it.

"Hey, sorry for barging in," the boy apologized. "Lightwood?"

Isabelle grabbed the closest weapon she could find—her pillow. She wielded it threateningly but the boy laughed. Not a rude or mocking laugh, but a friendly one.

"Go away," she warned. How did he know her last name?

"I'm not gonna hurt you or anything, I swear," he held out his hand. "Jason."

"What the heck are you doing here?" Isabelle spat, holding the pillow a little higher.

Jason stepped forward and started, "I'm just here to—" Not sparing a second, Isabelle thwacked him on the side with her pillow, earning the most bewildered gaze from him. "Hey!"

"You come one step closer and I swear—"Isabelle kept her weapon at the ready. Who was this guy to jump into her room and mess it up with freaking wind powers? There was no way on earth that this was an ordinary mundane. No way.

"I'm sorry!" Jason whipped his hands up in surrender. "I don't want trouble—"

"Coming into my room uninvited? It looks like you do."

"I need to see Maryse," Jason said quickly, and then blocked himself with his forearms, anticipating another attack. Isabelle was about to retort something but then faltered at the mention of her mother's name.

"How…" was all she could force out of her mouth. This boy— Jason, whatever— knew too much. But how?

"Tell you what," he chose his words carefully, "if I make a hostile move, you can attack. I mean, Shadowhunters are trained with quick reflexes, aren't they?"

"You know I'm a Shadowhunter," she muttered. "So you're one, too?"

"No, I'm a demigod," he said proudly. "Half god, half human."

"So what, like, Zeus's little runt?" Isabelle scoffed. She remembered Zeus, the god of the skies, from her mythology lessons with Hodge… back when Hodge wasn't a traitor. And she could only guess that Zeus was his father— super wind powers, good looks, son of a god.

"Jupiter," Jason snapped. "Jupiter's _only_ son."

"Same difference," Isabelle waved off. Jason was about to retaliate when someone swung the door wide open. It was Alec again, but this time, with Jace, Clary, and two other boys.

"Percy?" Jason stared, amused.

The black haired one opened his mouth, "Jason, what are you—"

"And Leo!" the curly brown haired one chimed.

"Shut up," Jason and Percy both said, making Jace smile. Obviously, Leo was a rather irritating but oddly entertaining character. Like Simon. But Simon wasn't irritating. His hair was a lighter brown than Leo's and his vampire pale skin contrasted greatly, giving him this look that screamed _I'm good-looking but I don't know it._ Too bad Simon wasn't there. Downworlders weren't allowed in the Institute, the one rule Isabelle hated since she started dating Simon.

She started going down a path of Simon thoughts when Jace snapped his fingers in front of her eyes, "Izzy!"

"Huh?" she said and looked at Percy. He held out a beaten up piece of paper, smudged with ink, but she clearly read her mother's name on it. "Wait a minute," she held her hands up, "So both of you guys are looking for my mom," she pointed at Jason and Percy.

"She's not going to be back for a while," Alec sighed. "Clave businesses. Classified stuff." Isabelle rolled her eyes. It was like being eighteen forced Alec to be more annoying because he was an adult in the eyes of the Clave.

"Jason," Percy interrupted, turning to Jace, "how did you know to come here? I mean, Jace told me where he lives, but you…?" Isabelle wondered the exact same thing.

Instantly, Jason stiffened. "There was a monster. He told me to meet Maryse Lightwood at this address. The Mist wasn't too tough to peel off, so that was quick." _The Mist._ Was that what they called the glamour?

"Hold up," Leo shook his head incredulously, "and you _listened_ to said monster?"

"Yes, because," Jace trailed off and eyed Percy as if he was the only one in the room, "because the monster's holding Annabeth hostage."


	3. A Trap

**I LUV you guys and your reviews. Not much, I got that, but each one makes me want to write more. I actually squeezed this chapter in because I won't be able to write for about a month. I got this huge test coming up and I gotta study for it. However, I promise, a next chapter will be uploaded the day after.**

**I seriously wish I could continue writing but hey, study=success...  
Wow, that sounded nerdy... forget I said that.**

Knowledge. That was all Annabeth was in search for. Instead she got a stupid dog. Not that she hated dogs— they were cute when there weren't annoying you or eating your homework. Knowing Mrs. O'Leary definitely confirmed that dogs were very capable of devouring a history textbook in one swallow.

She looked around now at where she was. A small gap at her back told her that she was sitting upright against the corner of two concrete walls. One small lantern shone above her, flames licking the air, but only lit the room enough so that she could see only a few feet in front of her. Her hands and feet were bound together in thick rope, the exposed skin between the hem of her jeans and her sneakers rubbed raw from her squirming. She knew it would be stupid to continue struggling since the rope would only tighten and cut through her skin. _Not_ something she needed right now.

That's when she heard the growl. It was much deeper than before, which would make sense since the dog was much bigger and much more terrifying. Due to the dark room and dim light, Annabeth could only see the faint silhouette of the animal approaching her, but she was certain that it was the same creature that led her here.

***  
One hour ago

"Oh my God," Annabeth squealed, tightening her grip on Percy's wrist. An angry look from a nearby librarian silenced her. The quiet section of the library was definitely not

"Hey!" Percy protested, "Loosen up!" Percy was sitting next to her at one of the desks at the library, a textbook open in front of him. Of course he wasn't reading anything from it. In fact, his eyes only fluttered open from a quick snooze when Annabeth brushed her fingers against his and then widened in shock when she squeezed his hand. Percy was _supposed_ to be solving a calculus problem, but decided the snooze and give up on her.

"Look at that," Annabeth ogled at the textbook in a woman's hand. The woman had pale blond hair in a ponytail, red lips, and a charcoal black suit. In her arms was the beaut— the treasure— _Athena's Words._ Just the title gave her the chills.

"It's…" Percy yawned and ruffled his hand through his matted hair, "It's a woman."

"I don't care about the woman," Annabeth replied irritably, glancing at Percy's half-asleep eyes. At this time, his eyes— the color of a green ocean— were still, calm and unwavering. Calm— lazy, in Percy's dictionary. "I meant the book."

Percy squinted. "Hmm. Should I be surprised?"

"Percy, it's _Athena's Words_! The book has been around for centuries and copies have been made of it, only I never got to read one. It's supposed to have, like, a whole cluster of formulas that mortals have tried to prove, various methods to cook ambrosia, and a whole chapter on a greener life! Of course, they are all just theories, because mortals and demigods alike have attempted and failed in their experimentations. Of course, just getting one look at it would be amazing— to see what kind of revelations my mother had before all this mortal technology."

"Mortal technology," Percy snorted and slid back in his chair until he was leaning on the back of it. "Like Skype. What's with that? Let me tell you, Iris can provide better connection any place, any time."

"I'll be right back," Annabeth ignored him and tapped his forearm. She slid out of her chair and started to walk toward the woman.

"Wait, I thought we were going to the coffeehouse," Percy bolted up with a slightly disappointed face. The same librarian from before glared at him and he whimpered, sticking his nose back into his textbook. Annabeth giggled, but then stopped abruptly when the librarian darted her gaze to her. After quickly mouthing a "Sorry," Annabeth left to find the woman with the book, who had disappeared among the many shelves.

She spotted her fairly quickly. The woman was sitting in a large plush chair by the window. Outside, the sky was already darkening and she could even locate a few stars.

"Excuse me," Annabeth approached the woman, indifferent to the fact that she was absorbed into _Athena's Words_.

The woman looked up the second Annabeth spoke and instantly, the woman's eyes seemed to bore into her, as if taking in the sight of her. "What can I do for you, young lady?"

"Uh," Annabeth sputtered. There was something about the woman's bright green eyes… Annabeth pushed away the feeling. All mature ladies seemed to have that superior look— the one where they found pride in being needed to help a helpless person. Not that they _would_ help. "I see you're interesting in Greek mythology."

"Oh," her eyes darted down to the open page in her hands. Some recipe for a mushroom soup that was supposed to make you wise. "Yes, Athena strikes me as interesting. Her and many of the rare deities."

"Are you a mythology or history professor?" Annabeth asked, curious. Not a lot of people spent time learning ancient Greek deities.

"Me?" she laughed. "I've been around a long time, child, but I'm not teaching history any time soon. You see, I used to read stories…" Suddenly, the woman's smile fade., "My dog, Archie, loved to hear about the gods. The little pup was simply _touched_ by Aphrodite's love stories or the cruel demons. However, Archie has recently gone missing." Okay… this professional business woman read stories to her dog.

"Missing?" Annabeth repeated. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I know you want this book," the woman grinned, shutting her book. "I saw you back at the quiet section. It was like you saw an open treasure chest, I swear. And I can give it to you if you help find my dog." Oh man, a bargain? Couldn't twenty bucks just cut it?

"I don't know. I really want that book and frankly, I don't know where your dog is."

"I last saw him in the back behind the library. He loves this place and usually comes here." The woman stood up and looked down at Annabeth. "Now, I am late for a meeting with my business partners, but my dog is of no less importance to me. I trust you can find him for the price of a valuable book?" The woman arched an eyebrow.

Annabeth, admittedly, felt defeated. The woman still had a tight grip on the book and clearly wasn't going to let it go. Her grin was a little unsettling— and her teeth, something about them wasn't right. Was it that they were too white? This woman looked like a 19th century princess in a 21st century business suit. "Alright. But I don't even know your name."

"My name?" the woman's smile lessened, just a smidge. If it weren't for Annabeth's keen observation, she wouldn't have noticed it at all. It might have even been… _threatening_. "I'm Camille. Camille Belcourt."

Not long after, Annabeth found a golden retriever sitting by the dumpster with a red leather collar and a metal nametag reading "Archie." Little pup? As she came closer to it, she realized that the retriever's tongue was worrying at its paw.

"Hey little guy," Annabeth slowly came closer to the resting dog. "Mommy's been looking for you." The dog twisted its head, his ears swinging. Immediately, it got up on three legs, its front right paw suspended in the air, and limped over to her. Overwhelmed by its aura of helplessness, Annabeth kneeled down and greeted the dog with a quick scratch behind the ear. After about a minute, the dog ducked its head and looked back at the forest.

"What is it, boy?" Annabeth stood up and looked at the woods too. A few hundred feet away, a fence marked the boundary of the library's property. Beyond that, trees clumped together as far as the eye could see, save for one little gap. After a quick squinny, she realized a quaint little house lay in a small forest clearing. "Is that your home, little guy?"

As if to answer, the dog started a demented gait toward a large hole in the fence. Annabeth stopped herself before following. The dog was leading her into the forest. Why would she follow? The forest meant monsters that could hurt both the dog and her. Lurking animals in the woods in the nighttime did not appeal to Annabeth. However, the dog seemed determined in its stride. Deciding against all of her instincts that screamed at her, she caught up with the dog and followed it into the woods, the moon already hanging in the black sky.

**That's that!  
I'm so happy, I actually PLANNED out a storyline for this thing. I can't wait until things get into full swing.  
Review, follow, favorite, recommend please!**

**See ya!**

**BTW, are you guys as excited as I am about the two movies coming out?  
Best summer ever!**


	4. Off to Save the Demigod

**Woah, I guess I lied when I said the day after the test. woops!  
Truth is, I got caught up in school work.  
Sorry though, SORRYSORRYSORRY.**

**I'm still very proud that I'm finally updating.  
Each review I got made me want to write more and more, so thank you guys so much!**

An interesting thing happened to Percy's face when Jason finished his sentence. At first, his face was still, like he didn't register Jason's words, like Jason didn't say anything yet. Then the corner of his lip twitched and his eyelids widened to the size of his now tightly clenched fists. In a matter of seconds, his face twisted in outrage and surprise at the same time.

"_What?_" he hissed.

"Percy—" Jason started.

"You _left_ her there?"

"It wasn't like that— there was someone else— like a vampire—" Jason reasoned. Jace stiffened. Vampires? So then Percy's little prophecy was right. Six unique bloods. _Well, we've got pretty unique blood_, Jace thought. Something is going on. Something that involves Shadowhunters _and_ demigods.

"A vampire?" Isabelle interrupted, drawing Jason's gaze.

"Well, sort of," Jason explained, glancing nervously at Percy. "The vampire— I think she's a vampire— met me on my way from the movie theaters. I saw the woman and she asked if I was Jason but I didn't reply. Then she asked me if I knew Annabeth Chase and I couldn't reply because she then Iris-messaged another woman, who I think is also a vampire. In the message, I saw Annabeth, her hands and feet bound in rope, and this giant dog was growling at her feet. The woman in the message talked about how she "knew the Lailaps would work" and the woman that I actually met said that I had to find Maryse Lightwood or the Lailaps— the dog, I'm guessing— would not be kind to Annabeth."

"You said Lailaps?" Percy said, momentarily distracted from his rage. Jason nodded. "That reminds me of something… I remember, it's some Greek monster."

"Well, obviously," Leo rolled his eyes. Percy glared at him and Leo shrank back. "Sorry," he squeaked.

"So where is this Annabeth?" Alec asked before Percy could hit Leo.

"I don't know. Camille just told me to find Maryse," Jason said.

"_Camille_?" said Alec, Isabelle and Jace at the same time. How on Earth did _she_ come into play?

"I'm guessing you guys know her," Leo observed and crossed his arms. Leo, Jace thought, was beginning to get annoying.

"You said she was tied to a wall," Alec ignored Leo's comment. "Do you remember any other details about where she was? A window, maybe?"

"There was none," Jason heaved a sigh. "There was a torch, though. Just above her head. And everything was made of wood, save the rope."

"A house entirely made of wood?" Alec creased his eyebrows and bit his lip in concentration.

"I heard branches against the walls. It must have been a small house or hut in the woods," Jason added.

"The woods…" Percy's eyes perked up. "There are woods behind the library, the one she and I were at earlier."

"I guess we know where to start then," Isabelle said, jumping off her bed.

"Izzy, we can't leave _now._" Alec chided. "It's already nine. They needed Mom in the first place, so she might have some information. Besides, you expect us to go strolling through the woods without light?"

"We've got our witchlight rune-stones," Jace suggested.

"And flashlights," Percy said.

"And if all else fails," Leo added, "you've got me."

"What," Jace gibed, "you gonna _annoy_ the darkness away?"

Leo grinned. "I was thinking of something more along the lines of… FIYA!" After a dramatic pause, he held out his hand and an orange flame burst to life in his palm, sending Isabelle and Alec stumbling back. Jason and Percy weren't surprised— mildly annoyed, if anything. Jace narrowed his eyes. This kid had more to him than his scrawny class-clown aura.

"What the—" Isabelle's eyes broadened, fixated on the dancing flame in Leo's hand.

"What sorcery is this? Are you part warlock?" Alec stared at the flame like it was going to leap out from Leo's palm and set everyone's hair on fire.

"Dunno what a warlock is but I'm a demigod all the way," Leo shrugged and extinguished the flame.

"Right. So light's covered," Jace concluded.

"What about Maryse?" Percy said.

"She's not going to be back until late night," Alec confirmed. "It'll be impossible to reach her."

"I don't know," Jason sounded uneasy. "Camille _specifically _asked for Maryse."

"Well, Camille is gonna have to suck it up and be a vampire," Leo snorted.

Alec sighed, "So she is."

It was already ten o'clock at night. Witchlight glinted through the gaps of Jace's clenched fingers as he led the others into the night. Jason ran off because he received a text that Piper— whoever that was— needed him to figure out what she was going to wear for the winter dance. One exasperated sigh later, Jason darted off, leaving Percy and Leo in his dust. They were in the back, behind Isabelle and Alec, each with witchlight stones just in case. Simon, who was leaning on the wall of the institute, perked up and walked over, nodding quickly only to Isabelle, who _might_ have been blushing under the moonlight.

"Who was that guy?" he gestured toward the silhouette of Jason, who just swerved around a corner.

"Jason Grace, son of the Roman God Jupiter, savior of the world, former praetor of the Twelfth Legion!" Leo said in a booming, British announcer voice. It did _not_ fit his puny frame.

"Excuse me?" Percy arched an eyebrow.

Resuming his announcer voice, he said, "I meant one of the _seven_ saviors of the world!" Leo grinned and then fiddled with his tool belt.

"Hey, Leo," Simon seemed distracted when Leo pulled out a ham sandwich, "you can pull _food_ out of that?"

Leo already had half the sandwich in his mouth. "Yeah, why? Hungry for some Blood A La Mode?" Crumbs bordered his mouth and he hastily wiped them away with his sweater sleeve.

Simon opened his mouth to reply, but he thought better of it and looked away from Leo.

"Enough, can we leave now?" Percy strained his voice. "Annabeth is probably scared out of her mind right now. Now that she's easily scared. But the Lailaps is a pretty big creature that wouldn't hesitate to rip off her—"

"You're not making it easier for yourself, Percy." Isabelle sighed and put her hands on her hips. "But I do agree on the notion that we should leave now." Simon shrugged in agreement and fell into step next to Isabelle as they continued forward. Jace could hear whispers behind him as Isabelle and Simon talked nonsense, so Alec quickened his pace and reached Jace in no time.

"Jace," he started and then lowered his voice. "Why are we helping them?" Jace was startled. Alec was naturally suspicious, no one could disagree on that, but he also liked helping. Then again, they barely knew these demigods and they were setting out on a late night escapade to find one of their girlfriends.

Passing a nearby lake, Jace replied, "Percy is really bummed out about Annabeth. It's kinda like if I lost Clary. Or if you lost Magnus—" Jace caught himself and widened his eyes, mentally slapping himself for the most stupid comment of his life. Alec already _had_ lost Magnus.

Instead, Alec's face was straight, without emotion. Changing the subject, he pointed to the shimmering lake, the smooth water disturbed by a quick movement. "Jace, over there."

_Parabatai_ often looked after each other. But when Jace looked, he wanted to slap _Alec_.

"Gah!" He jumped back. "Ducks!"

**Ducks! Oh, Jace. I just had to. I couldn't ****_not_****.  
Hopefully, I update soon.  
All in all, review, follow, favorite and recommend PLEASE.**

**PS.  
To my friends who went camping with me... DINNER!  
(and no one else knows what I'm talking about... muahahaha)**


	5. A Fire in the Woods

**Wow, it has been a LONG time. I truly feel disappointed in myself for not updating sooner. But alas, here it is**

Leo had wolfed down four sandwiches by the time Simon spotted a small wooden hut concealed among the trees.

"How did you find that so quickly?" Leo asked, dusting the crumbs away from his sweater.

"I am a vampire," he replied without looking back. Leo let his eyesight drift toward Isabelle. He had to admit, Izzy was a sight to see. She had that tough-girl look to her that kind of reminded Leo of Thalia— the look that says "_totally_ out of your league." Leo wouldn't have minded and probably would've even made a move if Simon the Vampire wasn't her boyfriend. _Oh well,_ Leo sighed, _not like it's the first time a fine woman is unavailable._

"So how are we going to do this?" Jace put his hands on his hips, scrutinizing the house about ten yards away from them. A simple wooden door was shut and the two windows, one on each side of the door, were boarded shut.

"Well, we can't just walk in," Leo said, "because the door has, like, five locks on it." He earned a dubious stare from the Shadowhunters. "Hello, son of Hephaestus? God of forgery and mechanics and FIYA?"

"Didn't his mother throw him off a cliff for being too ugly?" Jace recounted.

Leo narrowed his eyes, "Hera did many things."

"A lot of them, I would gladly make her pay for," Percy growled and kicked the dirt.

"Treading on dangerous ground here," Simon whistled, and then he looked back at the house, "both literally and figuratively."

"Again, ideas to get in?" Jace said.

"We could smash in with brute force," Isabelle suggested.

"Children, children, have we forgotten so quickly?" Leo chided. "Follow me." He strided over to the door, probably looking confident. However, inside, he was excited. It was like the fire in him _knew_ that it was going to be used. It knew, and it was coursing through Leo's veins like preparing for battle. Considering what Jason said about the vampire-women inside, battle must probably be coming up next. He waited for the rest of the group caught up to him and then placed his hand on the doorknob. He closed his eyes and tried to feel the locks behind the door. Now that he was closer and had better judgment, he could sense that the door had about seven locks. Well, melting that many locks is out of question. So he resorted to just burning the house down.

He shifted his hand to rest on the wood instead of the metal knob and willed the heat from his palm to emanate and catch onto the wood. Within seconds, the wood exploded into flames.

"Woah, there!" Alec stepped back and almost stumbled into Isabelle.

"Leo, you're gonna set the whole forest on fire!" Percy scolded.

"Can't you just put it out with some water?" Leo said and continued to spread the fire throughout the door. Then his face went slack as he remembered why Percy couldn't do that.

"I can't just _summon_ water like you! I need a source!" Percy yelled.

"Oh," Leo said in a small voice. He snatched his hand away from the house that was now catching fire.

"Guys, what if this isn't even the house we're looking for?" Alec's whimpered.

_Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, SHOOT!_ How could he have been so stupid? Stupid Leo strikes again! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

"There's a creek not too far away from here," Isabelle quickly suggested.

"I'll show you, Percy," Simon volunteered and led him off to the left.

"Nice going, little volcano," Jace muttered. _Just ignore him,_ Leo thought. But a new whirlwind of thoughts were swirling around his head.

This wasn't the first house that went down in flames because of him. He even heard his mother call his name as he was taken back to his mother's death. _Leo, Leo_.

"Leo? Leo?" called a more realistic voice. Great, now Leo was going crazy and he could _hear_ his mother's voice. "Leo, you idiot, is that you?" … Okay, his mother _never_ called him an idiot.

"Annabeth?" he yelled toward the house in disbelief.

"Not all of us are fire-proof!" Annabeth shouted from beyond the wall of flame. Fluorescent orange flames and its insistent crackle seemed to speed up time. It seemed that the fire was consuming the house within seconds with a crooked grin.

Out of nowhere, water erupted from the sky, concentrated on the flaming house. After a _crash_ and a _sizzle_, not a single flame was left in sight. However, the fire left damp cinders in its wake. The door was crumbling slowly. It seemed like if someone were to touch it, it might fall to the dirt in ashes. When the water has crashed onto the house at first, it sprayed onto Leo and the Shadowhunters, leaving a wet mess as the water spilled at their feet once the fire was doused. Gradually, the dirt absorbed the water and all that was left was soggy ground.

"Did you…" Isabelle raised an eyebrow to the trees on her left. Percy stood there, concentrating on the house as if he never heard her. Simon stood next to him, pretty amazed.

"I swear, are you guys some sort of elementalist warlocks?" Alec sighed.

"All demigod, all the way," Leo muttered. Demigods were powerful. He still remembered, as if she were right behind him, repeating to himself, _power over fire… very, very rare… and always dangerous. _Leo could still remember Nyssa back at Half-Blood camp, talking about how previous demigods with power over fire almost destroyed the world in wars. _No, _Leo shook his head; _I'm not one of those demigods._

"So are we saving this chic or freezing out here to death?" Isabelle rolled her eyes as Simon and Percy made their way to the group of teenagers.

"Well, I didn't get splashed just to give up," Jace said.

"Leo, are you still there?" Annabeth called. Her voice changed— it was shakier, but she was clearly trying to hide it. Something was going on.

"Annabeth…" Percy whispered to himself, "Annabeth, it's me, Percy!"

"That's great! Can you help me now?"

"She always was a sassy little—" Leo stopped when Percy glared at him, "What? I was gonna say… uh…"

"It sounds to me that someone's in trouble and, once again, the boys are slacking off," Isabelle sighed and unwrapped the strange rope around her arm. Leo whistled as it turned out to be a _very_ long whip and black runes almost _shone_ on her neck. With a skip in her step, she bounced forward and disappeared into the house.

"Izzy!" Simon yelled and scrambled after her. Percy, Leo, Alec and Jace entered next.

Inside, it was too dark to see anything except a little light in the distance.

"That's Izzy," Jace explained the light and walked toward it with Alec, both confident that they wouldn't bump into anything.

"Shadowhunters, huh?" Leo scoffed.

"It's weird. You know, that they've been living in New York and we never knew," Percy admitted.

"Kinda like that Egyptian kid, right?"

Percy hesitated before saying Carter's name out loud, "Yep. Just like him."

When they reached the Shadowhunters (and vampire), Simon looked at a specific door like it was speaking to him. "There's something behind it. It could be Annabeth or Camille."

"Or the other freaky vampire lady," Leo added.

"Let's try to be optimistic, please?" Percy breathed and took out his pen. Percy grabbed the door handle and signaled for the others to brace themselves for whatever stood behind that door. Leo plopped a mint into his mouth and pulled out a dagger from his tool belt. In his free hand, the fire in him scattered around beneath his skin, just waiting to see the world again. He was ready. He went to the doors of Hades to save Annabeth. He wasn't going to lose her to a bunch of blood-sucking kidnappers.

Percy swung the door open and jumped inside, the rest of them filing in just as quickly. The room seemed huge, with towering walls and it was definitely too big to fit in the little hut. Magic, Leo sensed, and he didn't like that feeling.

"Annabeth!" the relief on Percy's face was difficult to miss when he saw Annabeth hunched in a corner, under a torch, her limbs all tied together. At the opposite edge of the wall to her left, the wood had blackened as a result of Leo's fire. Percy darted forward to help Annabeth, but a dog, a cute golden retriever, jumped in front of him, panting with its tongue out.

"A dog?" Isabelle laughed. She bent down with the intention to pet it, but Annabeth screamed, "No!"

"Indeed," a voice said behind them as the door shut with a bang and the click of the lock ricocheted off the walls. "I don't like nosy and uninvited visitors." Leo swerved around to see two figures in the darkness. "They don't ever seem to like my idea of a refreshing drink."

**Okay, so Sea of Monsters is coming out in LESS THAN A WEEK.  
I just wanted to say that I really hope it stays true to the book.  
I think that's basically what every PJO lover is thinking.**

**As a result, I'm more excited and anxious for City of Bones.  
HOLY FUDGE I CANNOT WAIT FOR THAT MOVIE!**


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